Novel Full Chapter 92 Armored Counterattack
The weather had already cleared up completely.
Major General Karl looked up at the sky, then climbed onto the tank belonging to the division’s headquarters and, standing on the tank, said to Major General Schultz, “You should head back too. The 16th Armored Grenadier Division is our rearguard, you’ll need to advance with us.”
Major General Schultz gestured toward the signalman sitting in the barrel cart; the radio was being cradled in the signalman’s arms.
Schultz, “All I need to do is give an order, and my division will catch up with you.”
Major General Karl nodded, “Good, then we’ll see each other in Yeisk.”
Schultz, “I think we shouldn’t be so optimistic. That Rocossov… gives me a very bad feeling, very bad. He’s certainly plotting something, waiting to give us a hard time. Be careful, Major General Karl!”
Major General Karl, leaning against the turret of the Panzer III command tank and looking ahead, thought for a moment, then nodded, “Maybe you’re right; there really is some problem here.”
As he spoke, he picked up the radio headset with one hand, placing it on his ear, and brought the radio close to his mouth with the other, “Attention all units, check your smoke bomb inventory, check your smoke bomb inventory; we may need these things to escape the enemy ambush.”
A moment later, reports came through the headset from various units, “General, because our resupply wasn’t completed, the smoke bombs haven’t been replenished.
“When resupplying, we prioritized fuel and armor-piercing shells, then high-explosive shells, the smoke bombs — are still those we had before.”
Major General Karl put down the radio handset, pursed his lips in thought for a moment, then picked up the handset again to give orders, “All tanks, count your smoke bombs; distribute the existing smoke bombs equally among all vehicles, ensuring every Panzer IV has smoke bombs.”
The smoke bomb effect is not very good due to the 50-caliber limitations of the Panzer III’s main gun, so the main reliance for laying smoke will be on the 75mm guns of the Panzer IVs.
After issuing the orders, Major General Karl turned to Schultz, “If we encounter an ambush, we will immediately deploy smoke to break contact.”
Schultz looked gravely, “If we don’t even have enough smoke bombs to completely obscure the enemy’s vision, you’re going to suffer significant losses! We still don’t know the caliber of the enemy’s new assault guns, but those things frequently pierce and knock out entire vehicle crews!
“The Carolingian Division has experienced this; tank crews are significantly reduced in number. When hit by direct fire from the new assault guns, the losses involve more than just tanks.”
Major General Karl, “Would Division Commander Schultz give up the attack because the enemy is equipped with such weapons?”
Schultz was silent for a few seconds, then shook his head, “No.”
He took a step back, saluted Major General Karl, “We will follow closely behind you. Good luck.”
Major General Karl returned the salute, “Good luck to us both.”
After speaking, he dove into the commander’s turret of the command tank and bellowed the order, “Troops, attack!”
Originally, the entire prairie was filled with the humming of idling engines, which suddenly increased following Major General Karl’s order, and then the clatter of the gearboxes engaging added to the din.
The whole prairie suddenly bustled into action.
A startled field mouse scurried out of the ground near Schultz’s feet, squeaking as it vanished into the grass.
The command tank began to move forward, with the engine’s exhaust pipe belching black smoke, the pungent odor from incomplete combustion assaulting Schultz’s nostrils.
He thought of reaching for his handkerchief, but immediately dispelled the idea, standing in the foul air, watching Division Commander Karl’s command tank fade into the distance.
He waited until he could no longer make out the details of the command tank before extending his hand to the side.
The aide-de-camp immediately stuffed the radio headset and microphone into his hand.
“This is Schultz,” this kind of communication violated radio discipline, but Schultz didn’t care to bother with that, “begin the advance.”
————
Wang Zhong was pacing the command post with his steps as usual.
Pavlov joked, “If this campaign lasts ten years, you’ll have worn a trail of footprints into the floor.”
Popov chimed in, “Yes, just like the shoe impressions in the Saint Andrew Library. Saint Andrew sat in the same spot every day studying for ten years and actually managed to wear shoe impressions into the floor.”
Wang Zhong couldn’t help but tease, “To wear shoe impressions, that would mean wearing out quite a few pairs of shoes, doesn’t that seem unreasonable?”
After saying it, he realized that maybe it wasn’t too nice to say this to a bunch of religious believers.
To his surprise, Popov said, “Oh, that’s a classic problem in the seminary. When I was studying there, it was believed that the library made the impression deliberately to showcase the relationship between themselves and Saint Andrew.”
Wang Zhong was astonished, “Can they even do that?”
“Saint Andrew taught us to always be skeptical, to seek the truth from facts,” Popov shrugged, “We’re just following his teachings.”
At that moment, a monitoring operator from the radio side shouted, “Heard from Prussian communications! ‘This is Schultz, begin the advance’!”
Wang Zhong was thrilled, “Did you hear that correctly?”
“Yes!”
Pavlov then picked up the enemy situation report from the table, flipped through it, and said, “Schultz’s words might be from the enemy’s 16th Armored Grenadier Division commander.”
The enemy situation report was updated daily, containing various intelligence summaries from the Front Army headquarters and High Command, including the enemy’s organization and the names of the leaders for each unit.
Wang Zhong, “The Prussians wouldn’t let an armored grenadier division attack alone in the open field, there must be an armored division spearheading. That is to say, our prey has arrived! Call Yegorov and tell him to get ready to welcome the enemy!”
Pavlov immediately picked up the phone, “Get me the Ambush Combat Group Command. What’s going on? Keep the repairs up!”
After hanging up the phone, he cursed, “Field mice again! Signalman!”
“Present!”
As the signalman ran over, Pavlov tore off a page from the notepad, finished writing the order, and handed it to the signalman, “Remember to burn this after reading, take a guard with you on your way, in case it’s enemy sabotage.”
Wang Zhong gave the chief of staff’s water-tight orders a thumbs up, “When the enemy started their attack and we lost contact with the front line, it is indeed likely to be the work of the enemy’s Brandenburg commandos.”
The Brandenburg commandos specialized in disguising themselves as Ante Army soldiers to infiltrate and sabotage.
However, these disguised enemies were not protected by international law, so when the Ante Army captured Brandenburg troops, they were tortured mercilessly, squeezed for intelligence as much as possible before being executed.
After the messenger left, Pavlov said, “Should we also call them?”
Wang Zhong replied, “Yes, just use the code to warn Yegorov to be careful, even if he is careless, there’s still Major General Eugene.”
Pavlov immediately issued a new order for the radio to send the agreed-upon code.
Popov said, “They’re finally here. As long as we hurt the enemy and add some decoy tanks, the enemy will definitely frown.”
Wang Zhong nodded, “Yes, but I’m a bit worried. What if the enemy makes good use of smoke bombs and breaks through our ambush? After all, the terrain for this ambush is not ideal.”
Generally, an ambush is about limiting the enemy’s ability to use their firepower while unleashing our own full force. The ambushes organized by Wang Zhong in Orachi involved attacking the enemy’s marching formation from the side, destroying the tanks at the front and rear and then trapping and relentlessly assaulting the enemy on the road.
This time, on the grasslands, the armored strength and tank destroyers of the two divisions were deployed at the front, facing the enemy’s attacking formation head-on, which certainly wouldn’t be as lethal as the Orachi ambushes.
Moreover, Wang Zhong had seen the enemy tank troops skillfully using smoke bombs to obscure the vision of the destroyers, attempting close combat.
Wang Zhong truly respected the Prussian armored troops in terms of tactics.
After a brief contemplation, Wang Zhong ordered, “Form all the tanks that have been repaired and prepared for transfer to the 40th Army into an independent combat group and have them rush to the front immediately.”
Pavlov asked, “May I ask who shall command them?”
Wang Zhong thought for a few seconds, then suddenly slapped his thigh, “Didn’t I keep Major General Zinov in the direct command tank company?”
Major General Zinov had been demoted and investigated for losing all his tanks during last year’s winter counteroffensive. Wang Zhong encountered him on the testing range and, believing he had strength in professional areas, had actively recruited him.
Pavlov took a few seconds to recall who Zinov was, “You mean the general who made a mistake and whom you saved? Now that he’s been demoted to lieutenant colonel, he’s indeed very suitable for commanding this combat group. Simply add the direct command tank company to the combat group as well.”
Wang Zhong said, “Good, let him redeem himself through merit!”
Pavlov said, “I will draft the order immediately.”
Popov asked, “We are so far from the front line, can the tank troops make it in time if we dispatch them now?”
Wang Zhong replied, “An extra precaution is good.”
————
Yegorov did not know how many times he had used the binoculars to observe the distance, muttering as he watched, “Nothing! There is nothing!”
Major General Eugene cursed, “We’ve been out in the wild for two days feeding mosquitoes and lice, with some soldiers getting sick everywhere, even stinking up inside the tanks.”
Yegorov replied, “That’s a good thing. We’ll be even tougher on the Prussians then, just to vent our frustrations!”
Just as he finished speaking, a cry came from the radio operator on the division command vehicle, “Code received! Code received! The enemy is coming!”
Yegorov was shocked, “Why use a code? What about the phone?”
“It broke off twenty minutes ago,” the adjutant reported. “We’re checking the line.”
Yegorov cursed, “Damn moles. Send out messengers immediately, the enemy is coming! Pour all the anger we’ve accumulated over the past few days onto their heads! Hurry!”
Under Yegorov’s urging, eight messengers mounted their horses and, while shouting the orders, dashed across the surrounding grasslands.
————
Major General Karl’s eyelid began to twitch.
During the Carolingian campaign, his eyelid twitched once, and then he faced the desperate counterattack of the Carolingian armored troops.
Carolingian heavy tanks weren’t something the Panzer III’s 37mm gun could handle; only the Panzer IV’s high-explosive shells could stop those heavy armored cavalry.
But even then, they only stopped temporarily. As soon as the crew inside the heavy tanks recovered, they would resume moving forward.
Back then, as the commander of an armored battalion, Karl’s unit was beaten and scattered until the anti-aircraft units’ 88mm guns were laid flat and began to fire, finally halting the Carlingian heavy armored cavalry.
At that time, Major General Karl’s battalion suffered more than fifty percent casualties, especially the Panzer IIIs and IVs, while the small Panzer Is and IIs went relatively unnoticed by the enemy, saving a significant number of them.
Now, the Major General’s right eyelid was twitching again.
He subconsciously touched the amulet underneath his uniform, a pendant containing a photo of him with his wife and child.
Just as his fingers touched the bulge under his uniform, a shout came over the radio, “The enemy!”
Quick as a flash, at the forefront of Major General Karl’s view, a Panzer III acting as a scout exploded into a rising fireball.
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The turret, blown sky-high, even reflected the sunlight, glaring into Major General Karl’s eyes!
The next moment, the enemy’s volley arrived.
In an instant, over a dozen tanks exploded.
An armor-piercing shell screeched as it landed not far from Major General Karl’s command tank, bounced like a football, grazed over the turret and flew into the distance.
The Major General made a decision on the spot, “Release smoke! Release the smoke quickly!”